


An Interesting Year

by wandrelvst



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fluff, Hogwarts, Triwizard Tournament, cuteness, i'm kind of confused as to where this is gonna go but i'm in it if you are
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-07 03:51:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13426203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wandrelvst/pseuds/wandrelvst
Summary: Just like everybody else, Penelope Clearwater is pretty excited for the Triwizard Tournament. She figures she'll keep her head down, blend into the crowds (*definitely* no competing for her), and enjoy the challenges. But when the Beauxbatons delegation arrives, a certain Ms. Fleur Delacour immediately catches her eye.But, of course, she also catches the eye of the entire male population of Hogwarts.This is going to be quite the interesting year.





	An Interesting Year

**Author's Note:**

> Hihi! My name is M, and this is my first (public) fanfic. I'm kind of an insecure bean so comments are v appreciated – whether they're constructive criticism or *cough cough* just you complimenting me *cough cough* ≧◡≦ ANYWAY, enjoy! :)

“Pen? Pen! Pennnnnn!” I’m shaken awake by a pair of unknown hands, much to my annoyance. Can’t they see I’m trying to sleep? What could be worth waking me up from my sleep?

I open my eyes to see Angelina, my best friend, glaring down at me with disapproval. She’s not the only one staring, either – across from me, Fred and George are cracking up. Why? Falling asleep at breakfast isn’t that funny, and they know how late I had to stay up in order to cram for my Charms test... _oh_.

I’m suddenly aware of something sticky on my left cheek, the one that’s flat on the table. I lift my head up – and the plate that I’d fallen asleep on came up with me.

“Angie?” I ask, horror dripping from my voice. “Did I fall asleep on a plate full of maple syrup?” I turn to her, my eyes wide, and she grins sheepishly back at me.

“Surprise?”

* * *

 

We manage to peel the plate off of my face, but the syrup has matted part of my hair together, making me look like an escaped Azkaban inmate. I shower quickly and try to brush it down, but I can’t be late to class and end up looking slightly deranged despite my best efforts. Other than that, the day passes without great incident, if you don’t count the many laughs that I got walking through the hallways. But as we draw closer and closer to the end of the day, people seem to focus less on me and more on something else.

“Angie, do you know what everyone’s so excited about?” I finally ask after I see yet another group of first years buzzing excitedly. She shoots me an are-you-stupid look.

“The other schools arrive today, remember? For the Triwizard Tournament? There was a huge sign in the entrance hall this morning!” With a start, I realize what she’s talking about. I must’ve missed the sign in my exhausted-Penelope-zombie state. Leave it to me to stay up cramming for a test the night before something as important as this.

When Dumbledore announced, a couple months ago, that Hogwarts would be hosting two other schools for an event called the Triwizard Tournament, everyone went crazy. I didn’t actually know what it was, at the time – my mom’s a witch, but my dad’s a Muggle, so this kind of stuff isn’t exactly common knowledge at my house – but after Dumbledore explained it, I have to admit I was pretty excited. I’m not going to compete, of course – I’m not even of age yet (though I do turn 17 in a couple months) – but you can bet that I’m going to be cheering in the stands just like everyone else.

My Charms class flies by (maybe because it’s only a half period today), and before long I’m rushing back to my dorm to put away all of my stuff. I meet up with Angelina in the Great Hall and we walk outside together. There’s already a huge crowd – people are really excited about this thing. Angie and I are scanning the grounds, hoping to be the first to spot the visitors, when there’s a sudden yell.

“There!”

Everyone’s heads turn sharply. A giant, powder-blue, horse-drawn carriage is flying through the sky. We all watch as the horses lead the carriage in a spiral towards the ground, finally landing with a little thump. The doors are flung open and out comes an enormous woman – almost as big as Hagrid. She’s introduced as Madame Maxíne, the headmistress of the Beauxbatons School. Behind her file a group of students – all dressed in identical robes, the same color as their carriage. I’m struggling to see over the heads of all the other Hogwarts students – at 5’4”, I’m really not that tall – when suddenly I see _her_.

She’s easily the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen, tall and willowy with a long, shimmering sheet of platinum-blonde hair. She gives the school and the student body a quick one-over, her eyes shining, before walking to join the rest of her group off to the side.

I don’t have much time to admire her, though, because the horses have barely been taken away when the lake begins to ripple. A boat surfaces, and once it’s been anchored, the boys of Durmstrang begin to deboard. I catch sight of Viktor Krum, as do all of my fellow students, which sets everybody in a bit of a tizzy. I don’t know much about Krum – I’m not as avid a Quidditch fan as many other wizards – but I do know that he’s quite famous, and I make a mental note to possibly get his autograph later. Next to me, Angelina’s practically dying of excitement – she was actually going to be Quidditch team captain for the Gryffindor team this year, until we learned that the season is cancelled for the Triwizard Tournament. Anyway, she’s a huge fan of him, and I know it’s taking all of her self-control not to start screaming.

Once all of the students have gotten off the boat, we’re all herded back into the castle, where we take our seats at our regular house tables. It’s Angie’s turn to sit with the Ravenclaws tonight, so she joins me as we discuss the day’s happenings.

“I wonder where they’ll be sitting?” Angie asks, and I’m secretly thinking the same thing. We glance over at the Beauxbatons delegation, who are clustered in a corner near their headmistress. The girl from before is standing at the front of group, obviously the leader. I wonder where they’ll be _staying_?

Our question is answered when Dumbledore invites the guests to sit down. The Durmstrang lot head towards the Slytherin table, and the Beauxbatons group takes a look around the room before finally settling on our table. _Yes!_

The girl is walking towards me – I’ve really got to learn her name, instead of just calling her “the girl” – and I almost can’t believe it when she decides to sit next to Angie, just a seat away from me. I wave, maybe a little bit too eagerly, as she seems kind of amused. I quickly try to cover it up by introducing myself.

“Hi! I’m Penelope Clearwater, or just Pen. This is Angelina. This is the Ravenclaw table, if you didn’t know, but Angie’s a Gryffindor, but we’re really good friends so we switch off sitting at our house tables, and that over there is Grant, and that’s Cho, and–” I cut myself off, stricken. I have a bit of a tendency to ramble, and I definitely don’t want to scare her off even more.

But it doesn’t seem like she’s scared off – instead, she just smiles faintly. “I’m Fleur,” she says, nodding not at me, but at my hair.

 _Shit_. My hand flies up self-consciously. I’d completely forgotten about my, er, hair situation.

“It was...I fell asleep...um…” I try to explain, but she shakes her head and laughs.

“No, no, do not worry about it,” she says, a delicate French accent weaving its way through her words. “It is just funny, is all.”

I’m pretty sure my face is beet-red, and I turn my attention to the food that has just appeared in front of us. I shovel it down, trying to take my mind off of how utterly embarrassing I am to myself, when I realize that almost every boy in the room is staring at me. Well, not at me. At Fleur, specifically. I mean, I get the appeal – she’s gorgeous, why wouldn’t they stare? – but it’s a little disconcerting when you’re trying to eat your food and every straight male’s head is turned in your direction.

 _Great. Lovely. Fantastic._ Any chance I may have had with her – any tiny chance after I word-vomited at her while looking like a crazy person – just flew out the window. Because at this point, I’d have to compete with about half the population at Hogwarts.

This year is going to be interesting in more ways than one.

**Author's Note:**

> Whoop, there it is. This was kind of an intro chapter, with not a lot of action, just to get y'all used to who Penelope is and also introduce Fleur (because we can't have a romance without Fleur, can we?) If you're still interested (which hopefully you are!), the next chapter should be out in a week or two. I'm going to try to establish a regular posting schedule, but that's only if people are actually interested in reading more haha. So let me know what you think, and I hope you liked it!


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